Next time your racist family member (everyone's got one of 'em, right?) tries to get clever and asks "But what about WHITE History Month?" on Facebook, just drop this gem of a video into the comments section. It'll shut them right up.

Saturday February 23, 2013, 10:43 am
I did watch this video with one BIG issue. This man talked about if both parents did not go to college, their child probably not go either. Statistically, sadly, this is true in the black community. Where the Europeans who came to this country, pushed their children to make "better" of their lives by going to college, with all of the minority opportunities available for minorities to go to college, they do not. If they do, in NJ;s state colleges, 65% drop out after their first year.
Why? There is no support for them to continue. We can all use a little help; sadly, these students are not getting it.

Saturday February 23, 2013, 11:12 am
I am seeing a few problems:
First, they probably let the guy in the video go at the store because they were lazy or non-confrontational, not because he was white. I've had similar things happen. If he has really never been turned down for a job, he is in an incredibly small minority, even among white people. To do that well takes a lot more than whiteness could provide. Aside from that, there are minorities among white people who don't have the presumed priviledges, and efforts to "level the playing field" actually do the opposite.

Second, ethical questions regarding slaves go back tothe ancient greeks, if not earlier. They really believed that slaves were not fundamentally different from other people, and wrestled with the idea, but eventually concluded that in a manual labour-intensive economy, either slaves were necessary. That, or that they constituted part of a household and that it was not the place of the government to intervene within a household (as was the rationale behind differences in laws for married and single women, and between children and heads of households). Why would anyone think that Jefferson was so morally inferior, or had not followed in their tradition? He really could say "All men are created equal", and own slaves at the same time, and mean it. The thing with requiring people to own property to vote was also not about intrinsic equality, but about regional jurisdiction of governance and immobility. Owning land in a state meant that even if you left, you would still have a stake in its governance.

Third, the affirmative action part is also flawed: The correlation between race and wealth is not 100%. Policies where the criterion used is wealth would disproportionately assist racial groups that are disproportionately poor, but that is not a reason to change the criterion for assistance, just a reason not to raise an eyebrow when assistance to the poor goes primarily to poor groups of people. There is a deeper problem too: The value placed on education is an aspect of culture. The same argument could be made about work-ethics and any other aspect of culture that leads to, or away from, prosperity. Cultures are too complex and poorly understood for the blunt instruments of government to address. There are those who want to have the government address what they see as "inferior cultures" directly for the benefit of their members' next generation, and we call them the extreme fringe of the Religious Right. The first part of the justification for affirmative action in the video is essentially the same thing, but on top of that, treating the symptoms rather than the underlying problems.

I like having Black History Month because the fact is that for the most part, in white culture, we learn white history. I like the opportunity. I would also like opportunities to learn Chinese, Indian, Southeast Asian, Northern Asian, Native American, Middle Eastern, and both northern and southern African (which are not the same as "black" in the U.S.) history. I would like to see so much time set aside for histories of different civilizations that some would have to be set aside for European/white history to give others an opportunity to learn it.

Saturday February 23, 2013, 11:18 am
Thank you Allan and Stephen for presenting your perspectives in sufficient detail that many possible responses from those who follow can respectfully be made. I invite all to weigh in!
You cannot currently send a star to Allan because you have done so within the last week.

Saturday February 23, 2013, 11:19 am
My experience is much different than other commentators before me. I've met families of all colors who have kids; none were rich and all tried to do their best for their kids. Disguised racism is still racism; it doesn't matter how you sugarcoat it - it is still racist. Same on you.

Saturday February 23, 2013, 11:34 am
Thank you Patrick for providing a viewpoint that is probably more similar to those who made the video to enable full discourse.You cannot currently send a star to Patrick because you have done so within the last week.

Saturday February 23, 2013, 7:23 pm
Remember the "Peanuts" series when Linus wanted to convince Lucy he could see the future, and he said approximately, Ask any adult, why is there a Mothers' Day and a Fathers' Day but there is no Childrens' Day, and I predict the adult will respond, Every day is Childrens' Day." So she did and of course it worked. Well, every month is White History Month.

Saturday February 23, 2013, 7:34 pm
I watched it with great interest and read some of the linked articles as well. I wish it was as easy to articulate these complex concepts IRL as it is in a recorded video or in writing.

To Stephen Brian: the points you made in your comment were at least partially mitigated or pre-empted by something the man said in the video. He was not speaking in absolutes as you seem to have assumed.

Saturday February 23, 2013, 7:52 pm
Some marvelous content in your comments greenplanet, Joanne, Laura and it was good Patricia--unfortunately the computer tells me this for each of you: You cannot currently send a star to **** because you have done so within the last week."

Saturday February 23, 2013, 8:20 pm
That's OK, J.L., I don't need a green star (not that I would ever throw one back in your face LOL as I'm sure you know. I'm back after following the two main links and recommend everyone do so. It is so true that we have no idea what privilege we have unless we deliberately stare it in the face. I was lucky enough to jave a rare moment of insight on that when a cousin said something like, "Why do homosexuals have to advertise their sexuality? I don't advertise my heterosexuality." I was fast enough to say, "Oh really? Isn't that a wedding ring on your hand? Do you have a desk at work? Do you have a picture of your wife and kids on it?" I don't know whether it convinced him but at least it made him think. I wish I could do that that fast more often. Oh, and I also hope the wedding ring indicator will soon be obsolete. This was years ago and I am not a prophet to see the future coming.

Saturday February 23, 2013, 8:25 pm
Thanks so much for the additional insights you share Joanne on how blind people can be about how they advertise marital, cultural, disability, gender and other factors that still make a difference all toe often in how people are perceived and treated.

Sunday February 24, 2013, 5:08 pm
Like Joanne Dixon said, White history month is every month but the racists/nationlaists are so blind to their prejudice and racial superiority, they just don't get it. Racism is definitely alive and well but needs to be dead and buried. Thanks J.L. A.

Sunday February 24, 2013, 11:38 pm
I agree with Joanne and Greenplanet. And like Linus, I asked my mother when was kid's day many, many years ago. "Every day is kid's day" she said and then started laughing. And she was right. Now that I am in my 60s, it is certainly easier to see that. I suppose the ones that don't see it are the ones that are so ego-centric that they are not likely to understand ever.

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